The Sun Was Soft {open}

[Deleted]

And when the day comes that I don't wake up
I'll float away full of love
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun shone brightly, heating the Earth. Dark burns still faintly scarred the area, a contrast to the freshly blooming life. A gentle breeze shook through the leaves, and barely a single cloud hung in the sky. Shadowclan could use a light rain. It would certainly help their territory heal. But prey was returning, and soon it would be abundant once again. The tranquil clearing nearly filled with wildflowers was quiet. Even the birds chirped softer as though not wanting to disturb the furry occupant.

Almost imperceptibly, the flowers rustled. Petals showered down on the lithe white she-cat as she rolled happily up amongst the flowers. It was a beautiful day. Sure, the scars from the fire were still so evident, but she knew they would heal with time. Life, and the forest, would recover.
Her wildflowers had been damaged, but not completely. There were still sections that had survived, and they had been one of the first things to regrow. The thick, aromatic blossoms were a sanctuary to her. Ever since she'd been an apprentice, she'd been coming there. She'd dealt with the loss of her brother and her mentor by laying there and contemplating StarClans plans. She had no connection to their ancestors, but her mother had raised her to believe in them.
And when she had asked who her father was, her mother simply responded that he'd been sent to her by the leaders of old. Snowfox never understood what that meant, but she had assumed her mother meant their love was fate.

A red petal fell onto Snowfox's pale pink nose and she sneezed, sending the piece of foliage gliding through the air. She exhaled heavily, closing her hazel eyes against the bright sun. It was truly a lovely day. Days like these... She never finished her thought, finding herself drifting into a gentle slumber amongst the wildflowers.

NOTES Open
MUSIC Helium - Plain White T's

[` `shadsywadsy.]

What a night it is, when you live like this
And you're coming up beneath the clouds,
Don't let me down
Cause I'm high and I don't wanna come down
all the fun that we had on your mother's couch
I don't even wanna think about

An off-white form, a stark contrast to the dreary colors of the scenery around it. It was pure in it's hue, though it had the appearance of being a dirty white, which was not the case. No matter how much you scrubbed this fur, it would still remain the light tan color. The form was that of a cat, a male cat, who made his home here in the dreary bogs of Shadowclan. He was part of the clan, after all. He had to make his home here. His large brown eyes searched the ground in front of him, watching, scanning, for anything and everything that might obstruct his path. His body shape, a broad body supported by lanky legs, made him practically useless for hunting and fighting. But his intelligence, his almost uncanny ability to know things, made him great for medicine.

And that was why he was the medicine cat, because he was absolutely useless as anything else.

But he didn't like to say it like that. That made him seem rather well stupid. And he was anything but. Though he was not a know-it-all, as you might assume he would be, he didn't mind flaunting his intelligence a little. His strategic mind made him a great planner, and his general apathy made him great for life-or-death situations. He was the one that would make the decision to sacrifice one life to save many, because every life was worth the same to him. Nothing. No one meant anything to him, and he wasn't afraid to show it. He was also the kind of cat that would sacrifice many lives to save his own. Which would be why he is not leader. He would gladly sacrifice his clan so that he could live. No one was worth as much as him, in his mind.

He hated this part of job, though. Most of the time it was okay, other than having to listen to whiny babies about a scratch they thought was a fatal wound and having to train Redpaw who was a pain in the rear end, but this he hated even more. Collecting herbs. It was always so time consuming, and he always ran into another cat that no doubt would think it to be a great time to tell him their life story which he really didn't care about. At all. Then again, he didn't care about anyone other than himself. So. And yet, he would have to sit there and listen to "be polite" because Gravesky said so. God he hated that tom. Okay, maybe he didn't, but still! He was always threatening to take away Lightheart's position just because he was rude to a patient and they complained. They should be glad he was even still in this clan! Starclan forbid he left and Redpaw had to handle everything on her own. That would not be a good outcome.

And just as he came up on a clearing, he found the white form of a cat. He stopped in his tracks, not daring to breathe. She had her eyes closed, but he could tell it was Snowfox. No one else in the clan had a coat that white. He turned and started to go back the way he came, away from this she-cat, from any cat in general, but he didn't make two steps before he cracked a twig that was on the ground. For the love of Starclan... He cringed as he knew he wouldn't be able to make it away now. And now she would want to talk to him, probably about some rash she had on her underbelly or something of that nature. He turned back to face the she-cat, and let the cringe disappear from his face.

But he didn't smile. Oh no, he couldn't smile. That might suggest he was okay with being here. And he most certainly wasn't. He was many things, but a liar was not one of them. He waited for her to speak first, not ever caring for small talk, or any kind of talk at all really. With a hunch in his shoulders and a blank face, the tom wondered why he even stayed with this clan. He hated cats. All cats. He would be a much better loner, a grumpy loner that terrorized all cats he came into contact with. The life of a loner would be so much better suiting for him. Oh. Right. I can't leave, because if I do, then Redpaw will be the only medicine cat and the clan will die of disease. He sighed in his mind, but it showed in his face. Oh life. It was so awful to him.

L I G H T H E A R T

[Deleted]

And when the day comes that I don't wake up
I'll float away full of love
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She was surrounded by a haze, lost and out of control. She stumbled over roots and holes. The ground was hard and hot. Panic swept through her. The acrid smell of death hung all around. She could hear the lost cries of cats in the distance. Where were they? What could make them scream in such a way? The flames drew closer. There was nowhere safe. Nothing had been left untouched by the flames. She skidded to a halt, staring around her. All around there was fire. She couldn't move. Couldn't breath. And then...

At the sound of a twig cracking, the small white she-cat reacted instinctively. Pulled out of her restless sleep, scrambled to her paws, back arched, claws out, teeth bared. Though she was small, she was no pushover. If there was an enemy nearby, she would be sure to bring him to his belly. She'd been in enough scuffles to know how to fight, and she wasn't afraid to use her quick reflexes against anyone, regardless of their age or station.

Recognition flickered through her eyes and it took only a moment for her body to catch up.
"Oh. Lightheart, it's just you." She breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, she'd felt danger in her heart, but it was surely just the remnants of her nightmare. She'd dreamed of fire for a long time. It was the one thing she feared most; even more than foxes.
She kept herself guarded as she slowly lowered herself into a seated position, looking at the Medicine Cat warily. She'd always felt a bit mistrustful of the tom, who clearly would rather be anywhere but within their clan.
She looked at him for a good long time, her big hazel eyes narrowed in annoyance. Finally, she sighed and turned her head away from him. He was the Medicine Cat, and she knew she should not dislike him so much. She always made an effort to find at least one good thing about every cat she met, and then exploit that trait as a weakness. But in Lighthearts case, the only good thing she could find about him was his position, and it hardly seemed fair to the clan for her to try to use that against him.
She glanced back at him swiftly. "Collecting herbs?" Her soft voice hung with tiredness. She hadn't had a good sleep in almost a moon. Usually, she slept best out here in the flowers. But even the past few days she'd dreamed of flames and foxes. The things that frightened her. The enemies she knew she could not win against. She hated feeling powerless, but even more, she hated others knowing she felt powerless.

NOTES Sorry for the very late reply.
MUSIC None

[` `shadsywadsy.]

What a night it is, when you live like this
And you're coming up beneath the clouds,
Don't let me down
Cause I'm high and I don't wanna come down
all the fun that we had on your mother's couch
I don't even wanna think about

The tom watched as the she-cat recognized him and then narrowed her eyes in annoyance. She probably disliked him and his apathetic attitude, but he didn't really care. It wouldn't be something he lost sleep over, that was for sure. He gazed at the white she-cat, her body language obviously telling him that she was tired. She must not be getting a lot of sleep, which was not a good thing considering the shape that their clan was in right now. Their numbers were low, and Gravesky needed every cat at his best considering the ever impending doom of a battle patrol from another clan. Or worse, from two. It was Lightheart's jump to make sure each warrior was in fighting shape, but he hardly cared whether or not they lived or died as long as he lived. He would not run from a fight, but he certainly would make a bargain to keep his life spared. The only cat he even remotely cared about was Frigidscorn, and that was because she had yet to do anything to make him dislike her completely. She was a rather entertaining soul to be with, actually. And for that reason, she just might be the only cat in this god forsaken clan that he might might give up his life for. Might. It depends on how much actual danger she was in, of course. But he had a feeling that she would could hold her own pretty well without his help. Not that he could be that much of a help with his clumsiness. In fact, he'd probably just make things worse if he was to actually battle.

When she asked if he was collecting herbs, the tom's attention was brought back to the white warrior in front of him. She seemed to decide that she had better respect him because he was a medicine cat and not because she liked him, but the dislike for him still showed in her body language. She'd make a terrible liar, in fact. She may be good at lying with her words, but every emotion she felt was in her body language, in the way she sat, in the way she narrowed her eyes. Her voice sounded tired. As the medicine cat, he guessed he should be remotely concerned about her, and should probably give her some herbs to help her sleep, but he honestly couldn't find the energy to do so. He wanted to just walk away from her, to just leave her be and call it being ignorant. But yet, he felt like he should at least attempt to help her, seeing as it was his job, his duty appointed to him by Gravesky. In the very least, he felt obliged to give the she-cat conversation. The poor thing looked like she needed it. He hated it when his emotions got in the way of him being just a complete ass to everyone. Emotions were such silly things, such useless things. But emotions were the only things keeping him from becoming a ruthless monster who killed off his whole entire clan by poisoning them with herbs. He had often dreamed of doing that, but then, who would he have left to play with. Oh, he did enjoy playing with cats. They were so much fun to torture, to learn from even. The more he spent time around someone, the more he could see through their lies.

Yes, but as you can see I've had very little luck. He waved his tail over his empty paws as he spoke, and watched the she-cat's reaction to his words. I'm actually looking for poppy, have you seen any? Poppy is used to help soothe cats, and often times makes them sleep. But he wondered if the she-cat knew that, or was just trying to sleep in different spots as a desperate last resort to help induce sleep. It helps cats sleep, if it's eaten in small doses. Perhaps you could use some. He narrowed his brown eyes visibly and added a sly smile to his words. He wondered if she would pick up on his not-so-subtle way of telling her he noticed, or if she would play ignorant like he had so wanted to do earlier.

L I G H T H E A R T

[ooc: sorry it's so short.]